Notes on the Draft Resolution of the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee Regarding the Launch of a Campaign to Increase Production and Practice Economy [1] (August 7–17, 1959)  To Comrades Bo Da, Jia Xiang, and Qiao Mu [2]:  Has the first draft of the resolution on increasing production and practicing economy been completed?
There is no need for meticulous word-by-word refinement.
Once a rough outline is in place, it can be circulated among the Standing Committee members and the three of you for review and comments.
Based on these, a second draft should be prepared, followed by a third—this will be the stage for careful textual adjustments.
I hope to see the first draft tonight; please proceed immediately.
On August 8, devote one day to revising the resolution against right-wing opportunism [3], focusing primarily on harmonizing the third section, which I wrote, with the fourth section where they currently clash [4]. Submit the revised version to me by the evening of the 8th.
Both of these resolutions are to be distributed to all comrades for discussion by the 9th.
You, in turn, should spend the 9th and 10th working on a third document—the resolution concerning the errors of Peng and Zhang [5]—and deliver the first draft to me by the afternoon of the 10th.
Time is pressing, so we must work more rapidly.
Please act accordingly.
Sincerely,  Mao Zedong  5:00 a.m., August 7

To Comrade Qiao Mu:  This document is good.
There are a few minor revisions [7]. Please have Shang Kun [8] print twenty copies and distribute them to the members of the Standing Committee, Peng Zhen [9], the drafting group, and the heads of the major regional bureaus, to solicit their opinions.
Mao Zedong  August 8

A few more revisions [10] are needed: on page 3, change “seven years” to “eight years”; on page 4; and on page 8.  Mao  August 17

Immediately send this to Liu, Zhou, Zhu, Lin [£± ], Peng Zhen, and Qiao Mu for their review.
They should examine it promptly.
If they concur with my proposed revisions [12], it should be put to press without delay and delivered to all comrades this afternoon or at the latest by tonight, so that they may take it home tomorrow.
Mao Zedong  4:00 a.m., August 17  Printed from the manuscript.

--- Notes

Notes  [1] This piece (I) consists of notes written to instruct the drafting and revision of three resolutions adopted by the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee, including one on launching a campaign to increase production and practice economy.
Piece (II) contains remarks on the draft resolution regarding the campaign to increase production and practice economy.
Piece (III) is a note on the revised draft of this resolution submitted by Hu Qiaomu on the evening of August 16, 1959.
Piece (IV) offers comments on the same revised draft, as well as on two other revised drafts—the communiqué of the Eighth Plenary Session and the resolution titled “To Defend the Party’s General Line and Fight Against Right-Wing Opportunism”—also submitted by Hu Qiaomu on the evening of August 16.
On August 27, 1959, People’s Daily published the resolution of the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee on launching the campaign to increase production and practice economy.


[2] Bo Da refers to Chen Boda, then an alternate member of the CPC Central Political Bureau, director of the Central Political Research Office, and Mao Zedong’s secretary.
Jia Xiang denotes Wang Jiaxiang, who served as a secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat and head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.
Qiao Mu stands for Hu Qiaomu, an alternate secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat and also Mao Zedong’s secretary.


[3] Refers to the resolution of the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee entitled “To Defend the Party’s General Line and Fight Against Right-Wing Opportunism.”


[4] The third section of the draft resolution “To Defend the Party’s General Line and Fight Against Right-Wing Opportunism” was added by Mao Zedong and later slightly revised.
See page 03 of this volume.


[5] Peng refers to Peng Dehuai, then a member of the CPC Central Political Bureau, a member of the Central Military Commission, and vice premier of the State Council as well as minister of national defense.
Zhang designates Zhang Wentian, an alternate member of the CPC Central Political Bureau and vice minister of foreign affairs.
In August 1959, at the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee, they were wrongly branded as part of the so-called “Peng Dehuai, Huang Kecheng, Zhang Wentian, and Zhou Xiaozhou Anti-Party Clique.”
On June 27, 1981, the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee adopted the Resolution on Certain Historical Issues of the Party Since Its Founding, which stated: “The resolution passed by the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee concerning the so-called ‘Peng Dehuai, Huang Kecheng, Zhang Wentian, and Zhou Xiaozhou Anti-Party Clique’ was entirely erroneous.”


[6] Refers to the Resolution of the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee on the Errors of the Anti-Party Clique Led by Comrade Peng Dehuai.
It was published in People’s Daily on August 16, 1967.


[7] Mao Zedong’s revisions to the draft resolution on increasing production and practicing economy mainly involved changing the statement on page 3 that “This situation, due to a series of measures taken by the Party and the government, has already begun to improve rapidly,” to read: “This situation, due to a series of measures taken by the Party and the government, has already undergone rapid changes and will continue to undergo even greater changes in the period ahead.”
He also modified the phrase on page 6 from “Practice thrift in nation-building and in running all enterprises and institutions” to “Practice thrift in building the people’s communes, in running the people’s communes, and in running all enterprises and institutions.”
Furthermore, he altered the sentence on page 8 from “Overcome the right-leaning slackness of certain wavering elements and struggle for this year’s great victory” to “Overcome the right-wing opportunistic tendencies of certain wavering elements and resolutely combat their sabotage activities in order to strive for this year’s great victory.”


[8] Shang Kun refers to Yang Shangkun, then an alternate secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.


[9] Peng Zhen was a member of the CPC Central Political Bureau and a secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat at the time.


[10] Mao Zedong’s revisions to the amended resolution on increasing production and practicing economy primarily consisted of modifying the passage on page 3, which originally stated: “However, because people’s purchasing power grew more quickly, market supply once became relatively tight.
This situation, thanks to a series of measures implemented by the Party and the government, has already begun to change rapidly, and even greater changes are expected in the coming period,” to read: “However, due to the faster growth of people’s purchasing power, only a small portion of goods in the market once experienced shortages.
This situation, through a series of measures undertaken by the Party and the government, has already begun to change rapidly, and fundamental transformations are bound to occur in the period ahead.”
On this page, Mao also noted “Pay attention to the revised parts.”
On page 4, he changed the sentence “We may thus achieve the slogan of ‘catching up with Britain in the output of major industrial products within fifteen years’ in approximately seven years” to “We may achieve the slogan of ‘catching up with Britain in the output of major industrial products within fifteen years’ in about eight years (counting from 1958).” When People’s Daily published this resolution on August 27, 1959, it further revised “about eight years” to “about ten years.”
Moreover, after the phrase “struggle to complete the main targets of the Second Five-Year Plan two years ahead of schedule” on page 8, he added in parentheses “namely 1958 and 1959” and again marked the spot as requiring attention.


[£± ] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi.
Zhou denotes Zhou Enlai.
Zhu represents Zhu De.
Lin signifies Lin Biao, who at the time held the positions of vice chairman of the CPC Central Committee and vice premier of the State Council.


[12] Mao Zedong made revisions to all three documents submitted by Hu Qiaomu on August 16, 1959.
The specific changes to the amended resolution on increasing production and practicing economy are detailed in Note [10] above.
Revisions to the amended resolution “To Defend the Party’s General Line and Fight Against Right-Wing Opportunism” are described in Note [9] on page 408 of this volume, while modifications to the amended communiqué of the Eighth Plenary Session are outlined in Note [6] on page 416.